Crusty infected mouth, external not internal

[ismatscaff]

I have a three year old American Seabright (Wyandotte) hen, about 12 lbs who has what looks to be some sort of scabbing and inflammation around the corners of her mouth that I noticed this morning

Her eyes are clear, nostrils look a little like they could be crusty, she is alert and quite strong (gave me some good scratches this morning on my arm as she was quite displeased that I was messing about with her head)

she is currently molting and most recently she and the other hen have been treated for tapeworms (second dose of dewormer was administered one week and a day ago, evidence of worm has been grain like larvae found in feces, since administering the second dose, the larvae have stopped moving around in feces hopefully indicating that they are dead)

I couldn't get pictures of inside her mouth and throat but was able to look into it and it appears to be clear of any infection or abnormalities and the scabbing and inflammation seems to be exclusively on the outside of her mouth, pictures below are of her mouth before and after swabbing with alcohol and the right side seems to be a bit worse than the left

Vet options are limited as there's not a ton of places in my area that can really treat birds (closest is about an hour and half away) so I am hoping to treat this on my own, but if it becomes necessary to take her to a vet I will as I've already lost two hens this year (one to the tapeworm unfortunately and the other was injured and had to be put down) as well as three chicks (mushy chick syndrome, an issue on the hatchery's end) and would like to avoid any further chicken death this year

 

[coach723]

What did you treat the tapeworm with, and dose?
It kind of looks like some dried, crusty feed stuck there in some of the pictures. Have you tried cleaning it off with a wet rag? Also, maybe a pecking injury on the one side that looks maybe a bit swollen. You can dab that with a bit of betadine, see if it helps to clear it up. Sometimes they can get some feed stuck in their nares also.
No coughing, sneezing, wheezing, no bubbles in the eye or obvious discharge from the beak, nares or eyes?

 

[ismatscaff]

Albendazole was used to treat the bird at 5mg/0.5ml administered orally via syringe!

I did use a damp towel with rubbing alcohol to clean the areas around the mouth, it's definitely scabbing of some kind and not feed, I'll try the betadine though!

She doesn't seem to have any of those symptoms from what I've seen (I usually check up on them a few times a day, more so currently bc of the extreme heat we're experiencing in the southwest)

Hopefully it is just a pecking injury!

 

[coach723]

Albendazole is not effective on all types of tapeworm. For tapeworm the usual recommendation is praziquantel, which you can get in Equimax or Zimectrin Gold horse paste. Dosing for both of those is in post #6 here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tapeworms-that-wont-go-away.1130035/

 

[Coops Dad]

Don't use alcohol to dissolve crusties. It burns, the vapor is a severe eye irritant (wipe a little under your eyes and TRY to leave your eyes open), and it dissolves oils and dries out the tissue.

Use warm water or warm saline solution instead.

 

[ismatscaff]

Albendazole is not effective on all types of tapeworm. For tapeworm the usual recommendation is praziquantel, which you can get in Equimax or Zimectrin Gold horse paste. Dosing for both of those is in post #6 here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tapeworms-that-wont-go-away.1130035/

Oh that's good to know, thank you!

 

[ismatscaff]

Don't use alcohol to dissolve crusties. It burns, the vapor is a severe eye irritant (wipe a little under your eyes and TRY to leave your eyes open), and it dissolves oils and dries out the tissue.

Use warm water or warm saline solution instead.

Okay, sounds good!